CNN
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Former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney will campaign with Vice President Kamala Harris in Wisconsin on Thursday to promote support for the Democratic presidential candidate in the key battleground state, a campaign official told CNN.
The election event marks the former Wyoming congressman’s latest effort to steer undecided voters away from former President Donald Trump with less than five weeks until Election Day. Cheney, who previously told CNN she was determined to do what it takes to prevent Trump from returning to the White House, endorsed Harris last month in North Carolina, another battleground state. .
“I think it’s very important that people realize, what I just said is not only about the danger that President Trump is bringing something that will prevent people from voting, but also I don’t believe we can afford to write in candidates,’ especially in battleground states,” Cheney said in a speech at Duke University in early September. He then said he plans to campaign against Trump in battleground states throughout the fall.
Harris will directly appeal to Republican and independent voters at a campaign event Thursday in Ripon, where the school is known as the birthplace of the Republican Party, campaign officials said. She is expected to note Ripon’s historical importance and pledge to uphold the rule of law and the Constitution, even if she disagrees with her on policy issues.
Cheney’s passionate opposition to Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, including her vote to impeach Cheney, ultimately led House Republicans to oust her as conference chair and replace her with Trump’s stronghold. He installed an ally, New York State Representative Elise Stefanik. Cheney then served as vice chair of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. She ultimately lost her Congressional seat to a pro-Trump challenger in the 2022 primary.
Cheney said in September that while she and Harris have serious policy differences on a variety of issues, “we believe in defending democracy, defending the Constitution, and believing in the survival of our nation. He said he decided to support it because he felt that there was a need for it. Our republic has an obligation to come together in this election cycle to put these things above politics. ”
Many Republicans have backed the vice president’s bid to defeat Trump, including Cheney’s father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, who has urged them to cross party lines. former Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger; Former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Jeff Duncan. Former Arizona State Senator Jeff Flake.
Former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who gave shocking testimony before the House committee investigating the January 6 riot, became the latest high-profile Republican to publicly support Harris, speaking on MSNBC on Wednesday. He said: ”
Cheney has long sought to counter Trump’s influence in elections. In the 2022 midterm elections, the political action committee she started made ad buys urging Arizona voters to reject Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Republican secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem. She also crossed party lines and lost to two moderate Democrats in a competitive House race that year.
The campaign’s efforts to appeal to Republican voters will extend beyond the Cheney case.
Harris campaign officials say Thursday’s campaign stop is the start of a number of other events in the coming days aimed at appealing to voters disillusioned with President Trump and primarily concerned about defending the Constitution. It will be. Other events will be held in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
Harris-Waltz is investing heavily in this area as part of his seven-figure paid media strategy, campaign officials said. Trump’s team includes former Democrats as surrogates, but there is no equivalent to “Democrats for Trump.”
Republicans supporting Ms. Harris’ efforts have released an economic report, featuring direct on-camera testimony from people who voted for Mr. Trump twice, about how President Trump will make the economy worse for people like him. Campaign officials said they also plan to run new ads focusing on The ad, “Has Our Backs,” which was first shared with CNN, is part of the campaign’s $370 million ad booking from Labor Day to Election Day and will air on digital platforms including YouTube TV.
“We know these are votes that need to be won, and we join millions of Republicans who are turning the page on Donald Trump’s chaos, extremism, and divisiveness. We are working hard every day to gain support,” Austin Weatherford, national Republican outreach director for the Harris-Waltz campaign, said in a statement.
Not all Democrats think this is the best strategy.
Georgia Rep. Ruwa Lonman, the first Muslim woman elected to the committee, has been particularly vocal on social media about issues with Harris’ team, which has sided with prominent Republicans like Cheney. is increasing.
“It feels like the campaign is still trying to run the Biden campaign, doing Ms. Harris a huge disservice,” she wrote on X.
“Republicans aren’t going to help us, and touting their support is alienating people,” Ronman said.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi and Ebony Davis contributed to this report.